Industry Books

Practical and effective. A balanced book with an understandable writing and depth of analysis.

At the peak of the dot-com bubble, buying Internet stocks was momentum investing at its most pure - get in when a new stock or sector is on its upswing, and get out while the gettin's good. But Peter S. Cohan has created new criteria for Internet investors to apply in the traditional method of fundamental analysis. Instead of looking to old-line gurus like Graham or Buffet for advice, Cohan draws on the business strategies of John D. Rockefeller to come up with fresh e-commerce attributes like economic leverage, closed-loop solutions and adaptive management for investors to measure. We [...] recommend this book to executives, employees and students with equal vigor, although consider yourself forewarned that Cohan's extended barking-dog analogy will grate on your nerves. Nevertheless, anyone who invests in Internet companies or even traffics in Internet commerce for business or pleasure will gain insights from this book, regardless of whether Cohan's investment criteria prove to have staying power.

This is the most lucid, sensible analysis I've read thus far of the likely implications of engaging in e-commerce from different strategic perspectives and business models. Cohan provides a valuable framework and applies it to scores of real cases. I find myself returning to his book time and again to apply his methodology. His only off-base advice: don't invest in companies led by folks over 35. I'll forgive him that one. The rest of the book is a real gem. It should age well.

I enjoyed the book tremendously, and think Peter's done a fabulous job dissecting the Internet investment frenzy, providing the logic to the momentum everyone else seems to have missed.

This book is good for Newbie to the internet but certainly don't worth a look for someone looking for insight.

The framework is nothing new but more or less a simplified business plan.

In Chapter 13, Advice for Internet Management and Investors sounds like a common sense and existing strategy using by most of the dotcom. Common Sense: Strategy 1 of those advices is moving the company into a more profitability region in short. (It dividies the market into 3 levels of profitability. so called Lossware, Brandware and Powerware. Well, no matter if it is New or Old economy, there is always different degrees of profitability.)

Existing strategies: Selling out of a porfolio builder, deep pockets and restructuring. We are seeing consolidation in the market a long long time ago and a lot of big or small players already know it is the way.

This book is more like a news reporting and a lot of newly invented words cannot make this book a standard of new economy rules but disappoint me only.

This is the definite cluetrain (doc searls et al)for broadcasTV news. Much the same way cluetrain sparked a marketing revolution, this does the same for broadcast journalism.
I first meet the author when she was interning for Florida Today in Cocca Beach.
Every point she makes in this book is vaild. The take on "fox fair and balanced" tells me she won't be on the O'Reilly factor anytime soon.
I found only one sort of error. FYI> Matt Lauer does have a broadcast journalism background on the local level. He came out of the same environment that former NBC correspondent and current talk show host (WBUR Boston) Robin Young did, PM Magazine at WJAR TV 10 in Providence Rhode Island. That's the only small flaw I could find in the book.
The suits at CNN don't want you to read the book. They are not happy campers and with good reason. The hollywood suits trashed the network big time, and with than came the opening for Fox news to fill. Rick Kaplan is currently doing the same thing for MSNBC that he did for CNN take it down the pike.
It's a fast read but once you start you wont' want to stop.

Finally---an insider with enough intestinal fortitude to call a sham a sham!!! One can just imagine the 6 o'clock news being primmed, powdered and perfumed with just enough tear (or smile) to make it palatibly entertaining. Ms. Anderson, with her years of experience and credibility, still believes that the American citizenry is due the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news. Reserve the spin and "holy cows" for the baseball commentators! If the media execs remain stoically entrenched in the annals of the entertainment world, then let them be reminded of the old radio classic, Dragnet, where the byline was...."the facts, Ma'am, just the facts".

Bonnie Anderson's book has brought to the light of day what I have felt has been a problem with the media for some time. Many of the newscasts are more concerned with form, not substance; how they look and not what they say. Her book is a very good read and pulls no punches in pointing out the way many in the media are more concerned with entertainment than hard news coverage. Her description of this type of coverage as "Infotainment" is right on point.

News Flash brings to the reader another big problem influencing news coverage which is how mega mergers are affecting the coverage that is being presented to the viewing public. Unfortunately the impact is not good and these large conglomerates are proving the old adage "bigger is not always better" to be very true.

From her experience at CNN as a reporter, managing director of a news division and Vice President of Recruitment and Training, Anderson offers the reader a unique perspective as to what goes on inside a large news organization. She provides an in depth look at what takes place behind closed doors when it comes to hiring, firing and staffing in today's media corporations and much of what she reveals should be quite disturbing to the viewing public. This book provides some very interesting statistics about the media and its management which I am sure most of us were never aware of.

While Anderson points out numerous things that are wrong with today's TV media and its management, she also brings out the good that the true journalist can and should do. At the end of the book she offers her thoughts on what the media can do to provide the viewing public with quality news coverage. She should be commended for taking a stand and bringing to our attention the problems and proposing solutions to get TV journalism back to the quality we need and deserve.

In light of Anderson's criticism of the TV networks and cable news channels, it will be interesting to see if any of the media will afford her the same opportunity to present her views as they did when Bernard Goldberg published his book on bias in the media. If they do not, shame on the media, again.

News Flash appears as a rising meteor against a field of weakening stars. Ms. Anderson's book takes the reader through the shenanigans of the TV news broadcasters in their unadulterated striving for place and profits while leaving behind journalistic investigation and integrity. Her words turn out to be an exciting journey of personal experience and incisive exposure.
As a long time news journalist Ms. Anderson sets a fair bar for news organization to reach. Her experiences and reporting often show just how good news organization can function. The same intimacy exposes the petty, inexcusable machinations of networks in journalistic decline.
Ms. Anderson's news flashes exposes the perfidy of CNN's executive wing in its Tailwind scandal, the staging of news as presented by NBC's Dateline story on General Motors in 1992 and the apparent homophobia of Roger Mudd given his attitude toward AIDS victims. But indeed, Ms Anderson is not a muckraker. On the contrary, hers is to excite the industry to better, to reset the standard of TV journalism. She gives as examples her own series on drought and famine in Africa bringing a change in American policy on humanitarian aid, or of CNN's initiative in covering the return of twenty-four U.S. Navy spy plane crewmen held in China. While these could be considered scoops, her admiration for her industry is best held by her words on the, "spectacular breaking news coverage of the 9/11 attacks."
Ms. Anderson words border on the requirement for broadcast journalism to return to its traditional values and to assure the public a clear and unbiased presentation of the news. Ms. Anderson carries the fight to those in the industry already sullying news broadcasts as entertainment and who have diluted their own professionalism for money, position, or simply hubris.

From her insiders view of the whole industry, Bonnie
Anderson delivers a searing indictment of our corrupt,
sensationalistic television news. She lays out fact
by fact, and name by name, just how, why, and most
importantly who is to blame for this once esteemed
institution's downward slide into the very muck it
used to deplore. For years, Noam Chomsky's theories
about the corruption of the news media have grown less
alarmist and eerily more prescient as the
infotainment age reaches its belligerent maturity.
But while Chomsky was lecturing about it, Ms. Anderson
was out in the field living it. She recounts, with a
journalist's eye for detail, all that went astray
within our large media conglomerates. The cast of
characters are all to familiar, Browkaw, Jennings,
Schwarzenegger, Striesand, O.J., Clinton, Leo,
Lewinsky, and Lettermen, as Ms. Anderson makes a
compelling case for the media's distortion from a
revered source of accurate information to an
increasingly grotesque and obvious fountain of
entertainment. "If it bleeds it leads" is the mantra
of newsrooms of our day, and may truth and rational
perspective be damned. Everything of value is
jettisoned in light of shocking and sensational video
footage about any subject, no matter how irrelevant
and trivial. No one will hear about the latest civil war in
Africa when every second of news time is dedicated to
footage of a shark attack in Florida, human interest
stories, a surfing cat, or another excessive
Hollywood wedding.

My wife and I found the book to be very enlightening. People of all ages should read especially those who use make-up, prospective mothers, those pregnant, teen-agers, and folks with children, and members of government and people who just need to or should know about cosmetic industry, its potentially harmful effects of use and lack of protective health regulation.

We found the book riveting and to be honest a little scary, especially with our having three grand daughters.

A friend picked up this book to read with her older sister one day. Less than three monthes later, the pair started their own e-business called The Nature Of Beauty-- carrying all organic cosmetic lines. The truth, exposed in Not Just A Pretty Face shocked them, so they decided to fill the hole in the market for products that contain none of the chemicals mentioned in this book. She promptly gave this book to me to read after infoming me of her new business, and I finished it in one night! Not Just A Pretty Face is a very easy, "user-friendly" book to read, and is a must-read. After reading it, I looked at all of the labels on my cosmetics, and made a life-altering change to what I use. I urge all of you to read this book!

This book was great! It was very interesting. I couldn't put it down. It gives you a great insight into how big cosmetic companies really think.

THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT MAKEUP, IT IS ABOUT THE PRODUCTS WE USE ON ON BODIES! I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN.

First let me put my biases up front. I do not like the cosmetics industry. I do not like the petroleum industry and I certainly do not like the advertising industry.

Having said that, let me try and and provide a constructive review.

This is a book that proposes to expose the seedy underside of the cosmetics industry. It is very readable and "user friendly". I read it from cover to cover in just a few days and in every chapter learned/was repulsed by something new. Given my biases I do encourage readers to check out the provided sources to determine for themselves the veracity of the information (I did so and was convinced). However, be aware that this is not an unbiased perspective. The author has a definite point of view (which I happen to agree with) but still raise some interesting and important issues that are worthy of further consideration beyond the "preaching to the choir" crowd. It is a well written, entertaining read and encourages you to pause and think a moment without being overly preachy. My wife is now regularly visiting the database the author and the affiliated organization has set up and made self informed choices about makeup, sunscreens and other cosmetics. Not as a reactionary "go all natural" consumer but being able to make reasonable choices about products that work for her and possible alternatives that are less risky/carcinogenic.

I highly recommend this book.

Mollison must be credited with promotion of the concept of Permaculture and this book is a world-wide view with enough examples to stimulate the thinking of a designer in any climate. It would be the bible for anyone working as an ecological designer on a worldwide scale. This tome includes not only a wealth of information but Mollison's personal views are given at every opportunity as well. With the breadth of his knowledge it can sometimes be helpful. That said, it is not an easy read. Mollison assumes familiarity with terminology from many disciplines, but with a scientific background it makes it all the more credible.

However, since its publication, there are other books for specific climate types that provide more detail. For those living in temperate climates, particularly the NE US, Dave Jacke/Eric Toensmeier's Edible Forest Gardens is more focused. If you live and plan to practice permaculture in only such climates, it should be sufficient. For the tropics, see [...] for a manual.

The information presented in this book is worth a semester of agriculture, chemistry, and geography classes.

I was initially set back when I went looking for a copy of this classic and discovered that there wasn't a recent printing available and all of the ones on the market were over $100 at the time. Still, I wanted to learn about Permaculture and everyone said that this was the place to start.

I am extremely happy with my decision to buck up and fork over my money. This text is the source from which all others on the topic are written and they pale in comparison.

If you are someone who is looking to homestead, or currently doing so, this book will help you plan your own gardens, manage your land as a whole, and be able to assist others in the community.

Lastly, the book is a nice hardcover, the pages are thick for a tome of this size, and the print is nice and dark. The copy in front of me has been well thumbed, tossed around, and shelved on many occassions and is still holding up nicely. Only the corners are dinged up a little.

Bill Mollison represents the most successful attempt to mainstream practical home-scale sustainable design principles. I found myself needing to do an enormous amount of supplementary research to actually understand what bill was talking about, but to explain them in depth here would have taken away from the thrust of the book - which is mainly to show you example after example (many on every page) at sustainable principles of design put into practice.

The book remains the best book on sustainability written to date. There are some aspects of his system that are lacking that I will briefly draw attention to. Understand that I deeply appreciate his genius, but I want to just mention that these other things need to be integrated into his system to be fully fully sustainable.

1) He doesn't pay enough attention to seed saving and plant breeding. A loss of seed diversity and a re-invigoration of seed savers is essential to truly sustainable self-sufficient design.

See:
Seed to Seed - by Suzanne Ashworth and Kent Whealy
Breed your own Vegetable Varieties - by Carol Deppe

2) He very rarely mentions the role mushrooms and fungi can play in sustainability.

See:
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets

3) He doesn't stress the science behind it enough, which is fine, but leaves you asking sometimes... how do we know this is really ecologically sound? How can I NOT imitate mr. mollison but still create an ecologically sound system? Basically, Mollison's proscriptions are incredibly scientifically informed but not always scientifically explicit.

See:
Plant Ecophysiological Ecology
New Dimensions in Agro-Ecology
Smallholders, Householders: farm families and the ecology of intensive sustainable agriculture - by Rober Netting

4) In relation to the first point, he also doesn't stress the role that evolution plays in sustainability. This is a very complicated problem, see book.

See:
Evolutionary Conservation Biology.

These are not really criticism so much as signs of slight conceptual anal retentiveness on my part... Also please don't forget mollison's OTHER books which are incredible as well, especially the permaculture book of ferment and human nutrition.

I bought this book many years ago and still find myself going back and re-reading it over and over. If you're new to the Permaculture thought process you will be knocked off your horse with the common-sense, integrated approach to gardening and farming systems. I attribute this book and the thoughts provoked by it as the catalyst in seeking integrations and aggregation on many different fronts. This will always be one of the books I will treasure. I wore off the cover and have punched holes in all the pages and keep it in a three-ring binder.

...and probably one of the most fun to read. I read the first 8 chapters while working on a permaculture site on Isla Ometepe in Nicaragua, and ordered it immediately upon returning home.

Bill Mollison carefully and beautifully lays out the theory and practice of Permaculture (permanent agriculture). Permaculture is a holistic design system that sustainably envisions, creates, and organizes the spaces that we as humans inhabit on this planet. It takes everything that I feel is good for the world-Green architecture, local food, water conservation, renewable energy, organic agriculture, etc.-and wraps them into one cohesive scheme for planning the spaces and manner in which we live.

For more information, check out the Permaculture Research Institute's page at www.permaculture.org.au, especially the quick video "Greening the Desert", which is an excellent introduction.

I have found most books concerning "foreigners" or "foreigners running businesses" in Japan to be either overly pedagogical, overly repetitive, or downright depressing. Kudos to Carl Kay, Tim Clark and the editors. They have done a marvelous job putting together a fast-paced book, rich with facts and unique insights on real "gaijin" success stories. And, it's not about the typical white, Anglo-Saxon corporate raider from New York City. We hear feel-good stories of Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs, too. I couldn't put the book down. Order it now and you'll end up recommending it to your friends, as I have.

The authors accurately portrayed how foreigners living in Japan can become successful entrepreneurs and address the country's unmet needs in financial, real estate, IT and health care services. Shortcomings in the market have been corrected by persistent foreigners who don't take "no" for an answer.

Although this 2005 book was intended for non-Japanese readers, it contained so much insight (which was not available in Japanese publications) that it had to be translated into Japanese.

In the 1980s, Japan was seen as an unstoppable economic juggernaut, a tsunami that would wash over the entire world. Then, suddenly, everything went wrong. Japan went through a decade of correction for its sudden rise. China and India stepped up on the stage as Japan faded into the background. An entire sub-industry of knowledge - that of the so-called "Japan expert" - has mostly disappeared. The general consensus seems to be that Japan rose rapidly, stumbled, and is now quickly on its way back to global irrelevance.

But then Carl Kay and Tim Clark produced this small book. It essentially says, "wait a second, there's a lot of opportunity in Japan. In fact, now might be a better time than ever!" It is a message that is absolutely correct, and one that the outside world still seems to be ignoring. Outsiders seem to get caught up on the macro issues in Japan; the aging and shrinking population, the looming national debt, the general national malaise, the long and prestigious list of foreign multinationals that have gone to Japan and failed. What Carl and Tim's book advises us to do is to understand and embrace what is still there. Japan is still the world's second largest economy in nominal terms. Even after the "lost decade," Japan's economy is still larger than China's and India's combined. There is a shortage of workers, and a shortage of new ideas. Japan doesn't need foreign multinationals to come in and swallow up her domestic companies. Japan needs entrepreneurs! Japan needs thinkers and builders! And unlike China or India, foreign entrepreneurs won't face hundreds or thousands of domestic entrepreneurial competitors.

Carl Kay and Tim Clark interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs in Japan, many foreign born, some Japanese, all of whom succeeded because they "thought different." It is a testament to Carl and Tim's skills as writers that each story is clear, engrossing, and illustrative. It is the best book on Japanese business or economics I have read in at least two decades. Read this book, become inspired, then move to Japan and make your dream reality.

As a layman who is neither well versed in Japanese business practices nor inordinately interested in Japanese culture, I found this book to provide fascinating insights into Japanese culture. The book is easily accessible for the non-MBA type and for those who are not intimately associated with the nuances of Japanese culture. Very interesting read and I would highly recommend it.

This book is good value for money. In accepting the end of Japan Inc, it shows how and where opportunities are opening up in a range of service related areas from healthcare to shopping malls. The economics behind the book is that Japan neglected services and frills when it was playing economic catch up with the West. The business potential stemming from that is immense; while the Japanese excelled at making electronic gadgets, they lagged in a range of other areas. Instead of clobbering us over the head with a dense academic treatise, the authors give us plenty of examples where huge gaps in the market are creating lucrative market niches for a range of foreign players. If you are interested in running a service business in Japan, this small book will give you quite a few hints and a lot of hope. Definitely worth a read: so much so that I gave my copy away to some fashion designers who are making headway here.

I am a huge Rick Bragg fan, and enjoyed this collection of his previously published newspaper articles.

Bragg's writing is powerfully humanizing. It's also beautiful and inspiring to read, not just because of the subjects he chooses, but in his prose. Wonderful light reading, and the short newspaper-story formats make it ideal for travel reading.

Rick Bragg knows how to capture a readers attention by his style of get to the point writing. No boring, drawn out, unneccessary words or wording. Very refreshing read. A chance to learn things about ordinary people and events that you may have never heard about or known. Thought provoking. This should be the next read in Oprah's book club.

If you loved Ava's man, all over but the Shoutin, etc., as I did you might be disappointed. These are simply news stories from his paper days. Well written but just news.

This book is the newpaper stories by Rick Bragg.If you like his style of writting, this book is one of his best.Moving stories about ordinary individualsat the moments that are most revealing.Rick Bragg makes you feel like you are there with him in each story.

Have you read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins? If the answer is "Yes", you don't have to spend a lot of time in reading this book. At least, 50% of the book conveys what is already told in Good to Great. Of course, with different stories as example.

I liked two concepts from this book - "Have everyone think and act like an owner" & "Choose your competitors". It is hard to institutionalize the first concept, though.

Choosing your competition is something that many companies forget to do (or) they don't do it right. Many of them aim to reach the sky and at the end, do not even take off from the land.

If you are wondering how to keep the startup spirits alive in your giant corporation, this is a good book to read.

I loved this book. It's an easy, enjoyable read, and very rich in information on how companies we know and love have made it through difficult times and the habits and beliefs they live on a day-to-day basis. Very interesting and insightful. I plan to re-read it in case I missed anything the first go-round.

This book reminds us to set aside our own egos when managing a business or a department. It is a quick read with a clear message. I would recommend that all senior managers and those who aspire to be a senior manager read this book.

The book covers the study of 10 companies that have had an increase in revenue and profit of 10%, or more, for 10 consecutive years. There are many similarities with "Good to Great", however, this book deals with smaller companies and the leader at the helm is written about in more detail than "Good to Great". Like any great book on leadership and business you will find that the key to greatness is, you guessed it, FUNDAMENTALS. I particularly enjoyed the study of Koch Industries. Mr. Charles Koch guiding principles are outlined well in this book and I believe they are worth studying and implementing. They certainly have produced incredible results for his business conglomerate. Overall this book was well written and I was able to get some great nuggets of practical information from all 10 of the companies studied. I really enjoyed it, and got enough out of it to give it the 5 stars.

This is a great business practice/philosophy book. It doesn't throw numbers at you or tell you how to hit your quarterly target. Instead, the stories of nine culturally healthy and monetarily profitable companies are told. The format is interviews with the company leaders and other key players. Jennings expounds on the interviews and builds similarities among the companies. For instance, these companies don't acquire customers or clientèle, they build communities and fans.

The stories are inspiring because they truly start from the beginning. For example, Dick Cabela purchased fishing flies in Chicago for only pennies apiece. When he returned home to the Midwest, he put an ad in a sportsmen magazine and the orders started to roll in. He and his wife filled orders on the kitchen table and their first warehouse was the shed in the backyard. Today, Cabela's is one of the largest outdoors specialty merchandisers/retailers in the US, grosses more than $1.5B, and their stores are considered tourist attractions.

One more story: Charles O'Reilly and his son Chub worked at an automotive parts store for years. Charles was let go at the age of 72 and Chub was transferred out of state by some higher-ups, as I like to call them. So Charles decided to open a competing store. Chub was a cofounder and they also hired 10 employees from their competitors under one condition, "anyone joining the new company had to make an investment and become and owner."

These companies don't make big 5-10 year plans, instead they focus on today through next year and sometimes two years ahead. They claim making big plans never work because trends, business, technology, etc. change too often and you lose site of the fundamentals and current goals and neglect suppliers (partners) and customers (the community). Additionally, resources are wasted trying to achieve something that might never be. However, they do focus on being extremely adaptable; ready to refocus the entire company or invent new businesses in short notice.

Bottom line, all the stories and lessons are inspiring and invaluable. Considerable focus is placed on the cultures of these companies. Basically, they don't worry about making money and acquiring customers. They concentrate on building a healthy culture, make sure employees are happy, and provide solutions to problems; gaining wealth and customers is only an axiomatic consequence.

The nine companies interviewed are PETCO, Koch Industries, Sonic, Cabela's, Medline Industries, O'Reilly Automotive, Dot Foods, SAS Institute, Strayer Education. The companies presented have grown revenues by at least 10% for 10 consecutive years.

Ellie Kay does a masterful job helping families manage finances. In fact, the book should be titled, Family Guide to Finances, because she has the whole family involved! Having been raised by immigrant parents whose values helped me to become a responsible spender, saver, donator, Ellie's book still offers reasons to keep reading--from the eight money-saving/spending personalities (including, Love Ya Louie and Balanced Betty), resources for saving money online, keeping track of what we spend, to the Money Pyramid (starting with 10% FUN money). Most of all, her stories and digressions make this a real page-turner filled with valuable nuggets.

Written with light humor, this book on a serious subject is a delight to read. Ellie writes as if she is sitting across a cafe table, drinking coffee with you. What makes the book fun to read - and interesting so you keep turning those pages - is that Ellie uses experiences from her own life and turns them into lessons for readers.

The advice Ellie gives in her book is rock solid and makes perfect sense, and she doesn't just tell you what to do, she gives the reader steps on how to do it.

This book is not a "How to Get Rich" book. It does not delve into the dark mysterious sometimes boring world of the inner workings of stocks, bonds, banks or international finances. "A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" is a book that tells, step by step, what a woman can do to get herself out of debt and into the black in the most painless, easy to understand methods possible.

Chapters begin with interesting information, usually a personal experience Ellie has had. She then tells the lesson she learned from her experience. Then she lists the steps taken to correct the problem or make the success discussed.

I would recommend this book to any woman, no matter what stage of your life you are in. Young and just beginning to "I'm too old to change" (which I don't believe is ever true).

Only an absolute madman would give his wife the keys to the family finances!

Unfortunately, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Growing up in a liberal democrat household, my parents told me all this nonsense about how men and women should co-pilot the marriage. When I did eventually get married, I carried out my parent's instructions. I told my wife she didn't have to change her last name, went to all her feminist happenings, and last but not least, I bestowed upon her the family wallet.

I was a complete rube!

Even though, being a man, I made almost twice as much as she did, she spent all the money! Whenever I would come home from a hard day's work, there would be bags from Bloomingdales, Macy's, Bath and Body Works, and every other store women frequent, all over the house! My wife spent me into the poor house.

If that wasn't bad enough, when she found out my money was gone she split! There I was alone and in debt thanks to my parents silly liberal ideals. I went to them and asked them how their marriage worked with such flawed thinking. Then they sprung it on me. "We never were married, son. We liberals have evolved past that archaic pastime." My father stated sternly.

"Then you never gave her control over the finances?" I asked naively, eyes wide with innocence.

"Me? Give your mother control over the money? You gotta be putting me on. That feminism stuff is fine on paper, but I wouldn't recommend actually trying it out." He walked away with a sadistic chuckle.

This book gives practical advice to any woman interested in getting control of family finances, whether she is married, single with kids or on her own.
It also includes help for financial recovery for the deeply in debt and for the suddenly unemployed.
Divided into two sections, Ellie Kay jumps into the hard truth with "Where Did All The Dough Go?"

Ms Kay's description of the America's normal family:
1. Married with two children
2. Modest home with a 30 year mortgage
3. $40,000 annual income
4. Savings account with less than $500 in it
5. $8,000 in credit card debt
6. Two car payments
7. No household budget
8. No long-term retirement account
9. They want their children to go to college


Where they hope to be One Fine Day
1, Paid off mortgage
2. Paid off credit cards
3. Nice savings account
4. IRAs
5. Kids sent to college
6. Retirement

And where they will actually be if they continue their financial habits shows a vast divide that hits all too close to home for many of us.

Ellie Kay asks, "What are you willing to do today in order to make your family's financial dreams cone true in the future?"

She goes on to show the different personalities and emotions that drive financial decisions. Chances are you will find yourself in one or more of these personalities as I did.
But, take heart, she gives practical ways to break free from the destructive spending cycles that accompany each of these personalities.

After facing the hard truth of who we are and how we spend, we get to take action in Section 2 "Money Management For Everyone"
In this section there are action steps such as Ten Tips to Save Ten Bucks in Ten Minutes (or less) and establishing a household budget, based on The Fifty Thousand Dollar Pyramid
This section is packed with useful information about everything from choosing a mortgage to garage sales and Ebay.

The last chapter brings home the spiritual reason for being financially secure. - So that we can give generously, in very practical ways, to those in need.
I enjoyed Ms Kay's entertaining sense of humor, which got me through even the painful areas of `self-recognition' and 'plastic (credit card) surgery'.

Do you dream of the day when . . .

. . . Your credit cards are paid off?

. . . You have a savings account and an IRA?

. . . You can take a once-in-a-lifetime family vacation?

Then A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is the book for you. Written in an entertaining, easy-to-read style, Ellie Kay will teach the reader how she took her family from over forty-thousand dollars in credit card debt, to being completely debt-free in two and a half years.

Ms. Kay shows in easy to understand chapters how to budget, how to save on essentials, how to go on a debt diet, and how to weather financial set-backs, including losing your job and looking for a new place of employment.

I don't usually like to read how-to books, but this book reads like a good novel. I had to keep reading. I learned some really valuable tips and relearned others that I'd forgotten and am looking forward to putting my new budget into operation.

A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is a book to read through once, but then come back to time and again as you are ready to make more financial changes. She advices you start small and build your way up so you don't go into shock and stop trying to save money. Whether you are a born spender or saver, A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is a book for a keeper shelf to be read and studied over and over. I'd recommend having your teenagers read it too, especially if they are soon to be on their own.

=== reviewed by Laura V. Hilton for Christian Bookshelf

There's a knee-jerk reaction to think of success as being defined by money and material things alone. This book encompasses that,but goes far beyond it into the realm of defining what real gratification means. The author begins by presenting a list of factors that are elemental to achieving success:
1. Optimism
2. Definite vision
3. Willingness to work
4. Discipline
5. An integrated mind
6. Prolific reading
7. Risk taking
8. Realizing the power of expectation
9. Mastery
10. Well roundedness.

"The 50 Success Classics" are divided into four categories: motivation,fulfilling your potential,prosperity,and leadership. The summaries of the classics themselves are excellent. But one of the real added benefits of the book is the author's astute commentaries, highlighting important points,and providing enhancement to the wise words of each classic. This is a terrific motivational book. I use it not just for my own stimulation, but with my management students also.

"The 50 Success Classics" provides wisdom from those whose names are immediately recognizable: Andrew Carnegie,Steven Covey,Michael Dell, Warren Buffett, Ben Franklin,Sam Walton, and many others. Any prospective purchaser can be assured that in spite of the fame of these and others mentioned in the book that there are many new facts and insights to be gained. (The summaries are far superior to the standard re-hash of the familiar that we've all seen.)

While the names above are common knowledge to most,have you heard of Robert Collier,Les Giblin,Gracian,Richard Wiseman,or in the case of men,the well known women's motivator Cheryl Richardson? All of these summaries contain sage advice and excellent guides for daily living. There are other great lessons to be learned from other "unknowns", at least to many of us.

The book also contains a summary of Sun Tzu's classic "The Art of War", arguably one of the greatest military stategy manuals of all time,which has also been recently adapted for use in management. After reading "50 Success Classics" you'll want to continue in the same vein, with Tom Butler-Bowdon's other "Success Classics" on Inspiration, and on Prosperity.They have all been a great help to me.

There are already a number of views outlining what this book is about, how it works, which books are included. I will skip doing that and try to think now of some of the 'lessons' I learned from reading the author's summaries of these works ( which so far as I can tell are done in an excellent way)
One lesson which seems to be paramount is the importance of attitude. 'Trust yourself, every heart vibrates to that iron string" says Emerson who is I believe one of the fathers of this whole yea- saying business. The 'trust yourself' also extends to having a positive attitude towards others, avoiding argument and criticism. An important lesson is to smile and be upbeat in dealings with others. It is also recommended to be honest and forthright in dealing with others.A third great lesson is the importance of 'seizing the opportunity when it is there' having the courage to do so. A fourth lesson which is repeated more than once is in finding 'opportunity in adversity' and in some transformation in life. The idea is here is that life is changing all the time and some of that change is certainly not for the better. And one has to be continually ready to change with it.
I could go on listing the different pieces of advice here, and they truly are various and interesting.
What I am thinking about is about all those like myself who will never take much of this advice, and probably never be 'successes' in the way the people who write here are.
I too am not sure that the sense of what success is here (It is as I understand it by and large- success in business )is the kind of success a considerable body of people truly long for.
I too think of a different attitude towards success,held by those who long for success, and will not attain it. And the fact that not succeeding may in some ways and in certain ways prove a more valuable experience than success itself. Perhaps this is best expressed in these lines of Emily Dickinson.

"Success is counted sweetest
by those who ne'er succeed
To comprehend a nectar
Requires Sorest Need.

Not one of all the Purple Host
who took the Flag today
can tell a Definition
so clear of Victory

as he defeated dying
on whose forbidden ear
the distant strains of triumph
burst agonized and clear. "

This book among the other 3 excellent categories (see below) had a profound impact on my success and level of awareness in jump-starting my career.

Working at a large bank, my level of stress and the resulting time deprivation made it almost impossible to finish ONE book per month.

Now, I enjoy reading, analyzing, and integrating the wisdom of ONE book per day thanks to Tom Bowdon's excellent book summaries.

In short: Read ... @High Speed ... & Succeed !

Here are the other 3 book summaries that I highly (!) recommend:

50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life

50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books on Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose

50 Psychology Classics: Who We Are, How We Think, What We Do; Insight and Inspiration from 50 Key Books

50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life, From Timeless Sages to Contemporary Gurus
50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom for Life and Work from 50 Landmark Books
50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books on Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose

In the first instance, I have bought these three books in one go because I have been fascinated by what the author had done: He has practised what is known as the highest level of reading. Mortimer Adler, in his classic book, 'How to Read a Book', written in the forties, had called it 'syntopical reading'. It's actually reading a number of books of the same genre, more or less simultaneously & then synthesising the key points.

Secondly, the author, who is a graduate of the London School of Economics, somehow impresses me with his ability to synthesise the big picture of each of the books that made up the entire collection. For apparently a left-brain thinker i.e. economist by training, this has been a very remarkable feat, as his synthesising endeavour has been essentially more of a right-brain activity. Well, I must compliment him for a job well done.

Before my final decision on buying the three books, I have been thrilled by the prospect of reading three books, which in turn will give me access to one hundred & fifty books.

For each book, the author has very artfully as well as skillfully selected fifty books to made up one collection. I may not agree with his selection, but I must admit that I can't default him at all.

Take the first book, '50 Self Help Classics', with timeless wisdom, as an example. Out of the fifty books he has selected, I have read only seventeen of them. I have those books in my personal library.

For the second book, '50 Success Classics', I have read & still own sixteen of the landmark books on winning wisdom selected by the author.

For the third & final book, '50 Spiritual Classics', covering timeless sages & contemporary gurus, I have read only & still own three of them, namely 'The Tao of Physics', 'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior' & 'Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'.

For those books I have read previously, totaling thirty-six of them (probably stretching over three decades of my life), & upon revisiting them again in the trilogy, which actually took me one whole weekend to complete, starting on Friday evening & finishing on Sunday night, I must say that the seemingly marathon reading experience has been very refreshing & uplifting. It has also given me the opportunity to check & verify whether the author has captured the key ideas or essence of those books. I don't think I can find fault with the author in this respect.

Not only that, in the first book, I am very impressed that the author has cut through the bewildering array of choices to bring the essential ideas, insights, and techniques from the `literature of possibilities'. In works that span the world's religions, cultures, philosophies, & centuries, he summarizes each work's key ideas & finally makes clear how these legendary classics can educate, affirm, & motivate anyone searching for the inspiration to make a meaningful life change.

In the second book, the author is back with his wide-ranging collection of enduring works from pioneering thinkers, philosophers, & powerful leaders, like Napoleon Hill, Stephen Covey, Kenneth Blanchard, Baltasar Gracian & Christopher Maurer; from the inspirational rags to riches stories of such entrepreneurs, like Andrew Carnegie, Warren Buffet & Sam Walton to the leadership lessons of Sir Ernest Shackleton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln & Nelson Mandela, just to name a few.

In the third book, I believe the author has captured the very best in spiritual writing: They include personal diaries & compelling biographies of such diverse figures as Gandhi, Malcolm X, & Black Elk & Eastern philosophers & gurus including Krishnamurti, Yogananda, Chögyam Trungpa & Suzuki; & Western saints & mystics such as St. Francis of Assisi, Herman Hesse & Simone Weil. For each book in this volume, the author offers insightful commentary on how these classics can help spiritual seekers everywhere bring personal beliefs, values & practices squarely into the center of their every day lives.

Reading the three foregoing books has been quite a breeze because the meaning of each work is initially captured 'in a nut shell' at the onset, coupled with a representative quote as well as cross-referencing to similar work. In each work, appropriate sectional headings in bold print make it really easy for the reader to follow the author's train of thoughts over some six pages. There is also a short biographical sketch of the author of the respective work.

I must admit that the third book in the trilogy has been the most challenging for me to read as I normally do not go for such stuff. To put it bluntly, it's not my cup of tea. On the other hand, the curiosity streak in me has been too overwhelming, since I relish the thought that I could read fifty spiritual classics in just one book!

Overall, & for all those books I have not yet read at all (some of which I have not even heard of), I really enjoyed digesting the author's bite-sized summaries (in actuality, they are only the main ideas, context & impact of each title, to give a taste of the literature, so to speak) in the three collections or volumes, even though some of the titles are relatively esoteric for me. The entire reading journey has been enlightening, inspirational & yet humbling in some areas. Best of all, there are useful tools & practical techniques to take away from each collection!

For the first & last book in the trilogy, namely, '50 Self Help Classics' & '50 Spirtual Classics', the author has respectively provide a list of additional 50 books. The titles are certainly enticing! Well, all I can say is this: I wish the author will repeat his syntopical reading exercise covering these books & add two more volumes, that will make a quintulogy, for all the readers out there, including me!

As usual, all my three books are now scribbled with my own hand-written marginal annotations as well as my fancy colour marker symbols. Additionally, there are also colourful sticky notes in between selected pages. My next personal assignment is to transfer all these notations into mindmaps with Mindmanager Pro.

To end my review, I have one last humble comment to make. Out of the one hundred & fifty bite-sized summaries, I still don't quite get it from 'The Bhagavad-Gita' as outlined in the author's '50 Self Help Classics'. I have not read this work before although I have heard about it. [J Y Pillay, former Chairman of Singapore Airlines, who is credited for building the airline to what it is today, A Great Way to Fly, has vouched for this ancient Hindu scripture as an inspiration for his leadership success during an interview.] However, in the same vein, I found that I could relate quickly to Deepak Chopra's 'The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success' but simply not this one! I may have to explore other avenue.

In site of the above minor short-coming, I strongly believe that the three books in the author's trilogy are really an intellectual treasure!

Butler-Bowdon is my guide through the literature of inner -development. His books have helped me grow as an individual and continue to help in my research for the books I choose to write to help humanity. His knowledge is exceptional and his choice of books is perfect. He truly is an expert in this area. I recommend his entire series and genuinely cant wait to get Psychology Classics. Thanks for helping humanity with your writing Mr. Butler-Bowdon.

10 stars

Author, Your Daily Walk with the Great Minds and Upcoming Release of Eastern Wisdom for Your Soul.

Jim Rohn's wisdom is simple and easy to understand. I personally am a great fan of his work, have seen him live, listen to all his audios & read all his books. For anyone looking to be successful in life this is a must read!

If you don't have all of Jim Rohn's books, you are not complete. Don't think about this one, BUY IT right now!

This is an excellent book to teach a network marketing representative to become a better person and richer in character as well as monetarily. I recommend Jim Rohn to everyone who would like to have his/her spirit lifted and his/her character built in many ways.

I've read many books by Jim Rohn and every last one has been an excellent inspirational read. This one is no different.

There are fundamental truths that stand as unchanging foundations for success concerning human achievement. Since the beginning of time there have been men who've mastered and accepted these principles and have gone on to accomplish thier most creative visions due to the application of those principles and thier overwhelming desire to succeed. Authors have captured and written down these truths from the beginning of time-even in books such as the bible. Every approach to learning these secrets have been different due to the mindset of each generation.

Jim Rohn uncovers these priciples and sheds light on them in a simplistically refreshing way that allows for motivation towards articulating and aligning ones desires toward a worthwhile destiny. I think Jim Rohn once again does an excellent job at capturing the secret and translating it into understandable text for our consumption. I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind willing enough to search themselves and uncover thier untapped potential.

I have read so many self-help books that are okay and even good, but they're all just pep-talks. This little book is absolutely riveting! After 6 pages, I was shocked, blown away, and had to stop reading and walk around to digest the simplicity and truthfulness of Mr. Rohn's ideas. This is not just another pep-talk. This book tells EXACTLY what to do to acheive your goals; broken all the way down to blocks on graph paper. If you never read another self-help book, read this one.